What's On

Come and enjoy the fabulous atmosphere that surrounds the Observatory at night and, weather permitting look through some of the largest telescopes in the country at some extraordinary night sky objects. Don't worry if it is cloudy we have a cloudy night contingency; a fascinating planetarium style talk! No booking required.

Half day workshops for 6-8 year olds. How does such a huge rocket actually get off the ground? Why does it "break up" and where do the astronauts sit? Come and find out in this fascinating workshop. It is the 50th anniversary this year of the first astronaut on the Moon and you will be able to find out exactly how they got there and back again. Its a fabulously fun workshop and you even get to build and launch your own water rocket.

August 30th to September 1st: Soak up the incredible atmosphere that surrounds our fabulous observatory. Our annual event is incredibly warm and friendly and offers a magnificent opportunity to enjoy science and astronomy in a relaxed, informal setting, whether you are coming for the whole weekend, just for the day or for an evening.

21st August - half day workshops for 6-8 years old: How many planets are in our solar system? Are they all the same? What makes Earth look so blue and Mars look so red? Come and find out about the planets with some amazing activities, then design and make a spacecraft to land an egg safely on the surface of another planet like Mars. You never know astronauts may go there one day.

22nd August - half day workshops for 9-11 years old. Sign up to produce your very own short animation to keep. You will use animation clay and craft materials to produce clay models based around the themes of space travel and astronomy. You will then work in small groups to bring your models to life and turn them into stop-motion animations; using cameras, animation software and animation theatres. There will also be the chance to add music to the animations, time permitting.